Frontenac Arch Natural Area

Misty morning on the Frontenac Arch, Ontario (Photo by NCC)

The Frontenac Arch, also called the Frontenac Axis, is a 50-kilometre-long extension of exposed Precambrian rock that runs through southeastern Ontario and upstate New York from Westport, north of Kingston, to the Thousand Islands. The Frontenac Arch links habitats of the Canadian Shield in the Algonquin Highlands with those of the Adirondack Mountains to the south.

Habitat & conservation values

The Frontenac Arch is a unique area of biogeographic overlap between the northern Canadian Shield forests and southern Carolinian influences compressed over a few miles on a rugged landscape with remarkable landform diversity. The result is a narrow band that supports a high diversity of rare species.

In addition, the Arch serves as a funnel for movement and dispersal of wildlife, including wide-ranging mammals such as fisher, through the largely agricultural landscape of Eastern Ontario.